Apocalypse Yavin
by JadeDjo
Summary: Reeling from the revelations that Vader is his father, needing to get used to a malfunctioning new right hand, Luke is sent on a quest to find a kyber crystal. Unfortunately for him, Yavin IV is where he can find one. The moon is now a hellscape from the death throes of the Death Star and he has the feeling something in the Force is there, in pain, crying out for release.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** This piece was inspired by the first Rise of Skywalker teaser trailer with the half-destroyed Death Star. The only thing to interest us in the trailer, my Star Wars writing group began speculating on which Death Star it was. Yavin or Endor? In the course of the conversation, this fic was born. So I must give major thanks to Frangipani, whose original idea this was and is used with permission, and ThreadSketchier, who contributed and encouraged the birth of this fic. Also, special thanks to Evilmouse and Atamascolily for their awesome beta feedback.

* * *

The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning  
\- The Smashing Pumpkins **The Mission**

Luke awoke with a start, grabbing his right arm just above the start of his prosthetic, panting hard. It _burned_. He could feel the glowing red saber, searing through flesh and bone, burning and cauterizing as it removed his hand and took his only weapon with it. At the time he had scarcely felt it, too overwhelmed with Vader's revelations to even experience the pain.

But that was one month ago. Now Luke was in bed aboard _Home One_ with a new hand and still no lightsaber. But his mind had stored the pain away. The smell of burnt flesh and his cry of agony, the same as that day, would come upon on him in his dreams or at random times. The medics called it phantom limb pain and post-traumatic stress. But this was no phantom. His prosthesis didn't transmit 'pain' in the traditional sense, but electrical stimuli to simulate pain and trigger a reflex. This felt _real_.

Coming to grips with this new hand was testing all of Luke's patience and fortitude. He had never used the Force in a day-to-day capacity beyond meditation. But now he fell into its soothing currents, letting it flow through him and removing the pain, assuring him that his ordeal was over. For now. The most disconcerting aspect of this was the abruptness where the Force changed once it reached his hand. It was less of a smooth current and more like trudging through loose sand dunes.

Ben and Yoda said the Force was made of all living things. But his right hand was no longer alive, and while he could feel its outline in the Force, the energy that bound the galaxy together no longer flowed the same way through him.

Taking several deep breaths, he released his hold on the Force and sighed in relief as the pain receded from his body. Luke tried to not let melancholia take its place.

Glancing at the clock, he still had three hours before his alarm would go off. _No use going back to sleep_, he thought and got up, trying not to alert R2-D2. The little droid was in the room's corner recharging.

His faithful droid was being patient with him. But Luke could tell that R2 didn't really understand what he was going through. A new limb had seemed like an upgrade to the droid. He had given up trying to explain to R2 that human bodies didn't work like that. The med-droid also didn't understand, insisting that Luke could return to duty any day now.

Luke's right hand gave an involuntary twitch. If only he felt that confident.

Flexing the hand as if he were stretching the tendons, but without the satisfying feeling of loosening the joints or popping his knuckles, Luke got dressed and headed for the mess. One of the few places that were accessible all hours of the ship's artificial day and night.

But instead of a hot meal and a cup of caf, he found himself wandering the corridors thinking. Perhaps he should go back to the medcenter and complain, again, that his hand just wasn't _right_. But quickly nixed the idea. The med-droids and doctors all said there was nothing wrong with his prosthesis. _No, the problem is me,_ Luke thought.

_Home One's_ halls were virtually empty as he walked and he would nod to the odd ensign or lieutenant, who would salute back. That was more common now than when he joined. Back then, only those with prior military training saluted. Everyone else treated the Rebellion like a club fixated on one purpose, the elimination of the Empire.

For Luke, the Rebellion was his family. Everyone in the galaxy he cared about was here. So he might have joined to fight the "Evils of the Empire" and all that idealism-now he just wanted his friends to survive.

_A lot of good you are doing with that_, he thought glumly as he came upon one of the portside viewports. _Can't even save your dearest friends when given a vision of them. _

He threw a quick punch against the viewport frame and duly noted that while his right hand registered he hit something hard enough to cause discomfort; it didn't hurt. Which was the point of hitting the bulkhead to begin with.

Luke wanted to hit it again, harder, but opted to lean against the bulkhead and stare out into the stars.

He was contemplating how truly vast the galaxy was and how insignificant one man was within it when he heard the voice.

_Luke, you must go to Yavin IV. _ It was Ben's voice, but he did not appear even though Luke turned his head and looked.

"What's on Yavin IV that's not instant death?" he asked automatically into the empty corridor.

_Kyber crystals. They need you. _

That… wasn't what he'd been expecting. But if there were kyber crystals on Yavin IV then he could build a new lightsaber. Master Yoda specifically mentioned that a Jedi bonded with his lightsaber through its kyber crystal. Using his father's old lightsaber was fine for practice, but to become a Jedi he would need to find a crystal and build his own. It was a rite of passage and a step to becoming a Jedi. Luke wondered if his Master had brought up that fact because of just whose lightsaber his apprentice was using.

Perhaps… it was a good thing he lost it. That, and he wasn't sure he could ever hold it again, knowing what truly became of his father.

The memory sent his renewed spirit plummeting back down as Luke asked his first mentor, "Ben? Why didn't you tell me!"

There was no answer. "BEN!"

Nothing. Kenobi had already left, perhaps knowing Luke would demand answers.

Fine. If the old Jedi wanted to hide and deny Luke the truth, then he could rot in a Sarlacc pit. Luke now had a new problem to deal with-getting permission from Command to go to Yavin IV on what would essentially be a personal mission. And considering the hellscape the moon had become, it would take a miracle for that to happen.

**The Request**

Luke decided to talk to Leia first. She would be his best hope of convincing Command to send him to Yavin IV. It was still early by ship's time as he approached her office to wait, not wanting to disturb her in her quarters; he knew she was having nightmares again and needed her sleep. Wishing there was some way to help her, besides getting Han back, Luke settled into the guest chair.

He was happy for Han and Leia. They were his closest friends and even though there had been some initial rivalry, Luke felt no jealousy and only joy that they had found something in each other in this messed-up galaxy. He hoped Lando and Chewie could locate Fett soon so they could reunite.

He expected to have to wait a few hours for Leia, but was unsurprised when she showed up only thirty minutes after he arrived. Her hair was freshly washed and styled; her face clean with only the barest hint of makeup that tried to hide the smudges under her eyes. After a moment's pause on the threshold when she saw him waiting, she sighed and went behind her desk. But Luke had seen in her eyes the lack of sleep and worry she carried. He doubted many others could.

"I'm fine Luke," she told him firmly. This wouldn't have been the first time he'd sought her out to offer some kind of comfort.

He wasn't going to wade into that minefield as he said, "Actually, I need _your _help."

"Oh?" Leia said with an expectant face, no doubt pushing any arguments she didn't need coddling to the side. She might think he would ask to return to active duty, as her eyes flickered down to his right hand and back to his face. He had told her of the difficulties with it, therefore a request to rejoin his squad could be seen as finally adjusting to it.

"I need to go to Yavin IV," he said slowly, gauging her reaction. "It's important."

As Luke thought, this was not what she expected him to say. Her eyebrows came down in a frown and she cocked her head to stare at him. Leia's response, however, was not what _he _expected. "How do you know about Yavin IV?"

"What do you mean?" he asked automatically.

"What do _you mean_?" she countered.

Taken aback by her sudden unease Luke said truthfully, "I need to find a kyber crystal for a new lightsaber. I…was told that there were some on Yavin IV."

She stared at him for a long moment and he had to restrain himself from fidgeting. Whenever she used that scrutinizing look, many could not meet her eyes. Luke did, but with effort and a little resolve from the Force.

She gave him a considering gaze. "By whom?"

Luke wanted to tell her. Wanted to spill the whole damn story to her. There was no question that she was his friend. One of his best friends. They shared a connection from the first moment they met. Maybe even before, when he'd first seen her plea for help from R2's little holoprojector. But he held back. And not for the first time. Even Leia would think him crazy if he said Ben Kenobi's ghost had been guiding him and told him of the crystals.

He also wanted to protect Master Yoda. His master had gone to great lengths to hide and Luke did not want to put him in jeopardy, even inadvertently.

Alliance Command was already unhappy with his half-truths about why he didn't make the rendezvous with the rest of his squadron, or where he'd been since they abandoned Hoth Base. Coupled with the short version of how he'd lost his hand and dealing with the loss of said hand, meant Command was reluctant to put him back in a cockpit.

"You aren't going to say," Leia said flatly when he failed to answer.

"No," he shook his head, willing her to understand. "Look, I just need to go there. The Force is telling me it's important that I do."

She frowned again, and he went on, "Like it was telling me to come to you on Bespin." Which wasn't the best argument, since he'd accomplished nothing in leaving his Master behind and trying to save his friends, only to need saving in return.

At her still-dubious expression he pulled out his last card, a cheap trick but it should work. "I need to go there if we're going to get Han back. I feel it." All of what he said was true, but the sadness that came and went so quickly he would have missed it if he hadn't been looking directly at her, made him feel like a sleemo.

She sighed again. A deep, body-deflating breath of air as she closed her eyes and put a hand to her head. When she opened them again her face was stern. "What I'm about to tell you is classified."

He nodded his understanding and sat up straight.

"When the Death Star blew apart over Yavin IV, the Alliance was in so great a rush to escape, only taking only the most critical equipment with us, that much was left behind. Including the plans for the Death Star. By the time this was realized, it was too late. Yavin IV's environment was too volatile-once the largest pieces crashed into the moon-to go back and salvage anything. Many from the fringe-junkers and salvage merchants-have been reported collecting the wreckage still in orbit, but no one is trying to bring up the bulk on the surface. But now…"

She paused and he waited-not speaking, not moving-for her to continue.

"Now that the surface is calming down, our scouts have reported the Empire has been sending probe droids down to Yavin IV to monitor the moon. But they still don't seem to be salvaging any of the wreckage."

She paused again, picking her words carefully. "Mon Mothma would like to send someone to see why the Empire is so interested in the wreckage, but Fleet Command says they can't spare any resources on it. General Madine thinks this is just a salvage operation and the Empire was biding its time until the moon was more hospitable. But Mon believes this is something else."

"I'm not doing anything," he picked up where she was going with this. "I can be in and out like that." He tried to snap his fingers with his right hand but the fingers didn't align correctly and it made no sound. He scowled. "You know what I mean."

Glancing from his hand back to his face, she asked, "Do you really think it's that important for you to go? The surface conditions are still highly unstable."

"Yes, Leia. I do," he said, trying to send her reassurance through the Force. He could feel her worry about losing someone else she cared about.

A resolve descended on her. Whether through his assistance or her own fortitude, she nodded decisively once at him. "I'll talk to Fleet Command. Maybe I can word it as an assessment of your suitability to return to duty."

"Thank you," he said sincerely, even as a weight settled on his shoulders. The Force was telling him this mission was important. He hadn't realized how important until this moment.

**The Arrival**

The JS-77D SubProCo Shuttle exited hyperspace on the far side of the red-orange gas giant Yavin. Not much more than a box with a 1.0 class hyperdrive attached, and the only long-distance vessel the Alliance would spare him, it lumbered around the perpetually stormy atmosphere of Yavin Prime to the fourth moon a quarter the way around. This gave Luke time to run through a few meditation exercises.

Ever since Fleet Command had approved his request to return to Yavin IV to investigate the Empire's interest in the Death Star's wreckage, the weight he'd been perceiving in the Force when talking to Leia was getting heavier and more urgent. Slipping into a light trance, relying on R2 to get them to the fourth moon, Luke opened himself to the Force. The vague sense of urgency burst into desperate exigency. Pain, despair, and madness tore at his mind, creating a ferocity of feeling that he had to _do something! _End the suffering and bring back peace.

It took a tremendous effort of will to separate his mind from such wretchedness, Luke didn't even realize they were in orbit until he opened his eyes.

He blinked. Then blinked again.

The sight before him was not the green and blue paradise he'd first seen from the _Falcon's _cockpit after rescuing Leia. After only varying shades of brown, yellow, orange, and red his whole life, the green of Yavin IV's landmasses and the pure blue waters would stay with him forever. Or so he had thought.

The sight before him now would haunt his dreams, for the moon below his shuttle was now a grey and brown whirling mass of clouds and storms raging across the upper atmosphere. Here and there bright flashes of lightning would illuminate the storms, promising destruction to whoever crossed their paths. The side that faced Yavin Prime glowed an angry red, reflecting the light of the moon's parent. Little light from either the sun or the gas giant reached the surface.

The Empire had claimed one last planet with their Death Star. And it was all Luke's fault.

The Rebellion didn't have many scientists. There were a few who escaped the Empire for fear of what the Emperor would do with their research, but none of them had been on Yavin IV when the Death Star blew up to advise the Alliance on the possible consequences of such a massive explosion so close to multiple gravity wells.

Many of the higher-ups had believed the debris was too close to Yavin Prime to bother its fourth moon. Assuming the huge gas giant's gravity well would suck everything down, crushing and melting it within its ultra-dense atmosphere. But they hadn't accounted for the speed with which the space station blew apart.

Luke remembered. He and those who had survived the battle had thought they were far enough away when it blew. But they had to take evasive action only minutes after the blinding explosion of the space station's death, as small debris and chunks of metal flew past. They'd thought that was it.

The award ceremony had been wrapping up. Minor debris had been falling and mostly burning up in the upper atmosphere. But it had been increasing, in both size and number. As soon as he and Han stepped off the dais with the Princess, a deafening explosion sounded and an evacuation alert went off.

Many assumed the Empire had arrived and intended to seek retribution for the destruction of their planet-killing weapon. In a way that would have been a relief compared to what the Rebellion had actually faced.

R2 twittered at him and Luke shook off the memories of the mad dash to escape the moon before the largest chunk impacted. He'd later learned an asteroid at least 10km wide hitting a planet was considered an extinction-level event. The piece which hit Yavin IV had been at least 75km.

"I saved the Rebellion R2," he whispered more to himself then the droid. "And killed a world in the process."

R2-D2 warbled a question and Luke checked the translation.

"No R2, I think we'll bypass the old base, if it's even there. In fact, I want to take over and fly manually."

A worried whistle came from the astromech beside him.

"Yes, I remember what happened last time," Luke replied a little testily. "But that won't happen _this _time."

A beep.

"Because, I have the Force this time."

R2's next series of beeps and whistles sounded indifferent to Luke's assertion they wouldn't crash this time, and since he failed to put the translation through to the console Luke assumed there were also a few swear words mixed in.

"You worry too much R2," Luke teased, though he wasn't sure if he was trying to lighten R2's mood or his own.

The weight was still pressing down on him but Luke was reluctant to reopen his connection to the Force and be overwhelmed.

Blast Ben anyway for not telling him more. _Go to Dagobah Luke, go to Yavin IV Luke, Vader killed your Father Luke. _He clenched his jaw in remembered frustration. _ Just tell the whole truth Ben! _

He could feel the anger rising up at feeling like a pawn in Ben and Yoda's game. As quickly as it surfaced, Luke took a deep breath and let his anger drain as the air left his lungs. Anger was of the Dark Side. That much, he knew, was true, and would not help him now.

But it didn't mean he had to like what was kept from him.

Getting his tumultuous emotions under control, Luke opened a small part of himself to the Force, expecting to once again feel the anguish from before.

Slowly cracking the mental shields Master Yoda had taught him to erect around his mind, Luke reached for the barest sliver of the Force. The torment was still there, but at a more manageable level. He accepted it into himself and tried to let it wash over and through him, concentrating instead on its source. Thinking this would be a place to avoid, he traced the suffering back to its heart.

Something was off. The wrongness in the Force-the pain and suffering-were originating from the very place he was looking for. The remains of the Death Star.

Even as closed off as he was, he could feel the scar that was left as it impacted the moon. The only life, if you could call it that, emanated from the twisted skeleton of metal struts and plating.

As much as he didn't want to go down there, he couldn't let the suffering continue. Not if he could help in even a small way. "Get ready R2, we're going in."

Luke set a course he hoped would minimize the buffeting winds in the upper atmosphere and angled the shuttle towards the source of the fracture in the Force.

He made it all the way through the stratosphere with only minor shakes of the shuttle, easily corrected with the thrusters, but once they entered the troposphere 23 kilometers above the surface, the winds picked up speed to 320 kph. It took both his and R2's concentrated effort to keep the bulky shuttle on course.

Periodically lightning would flash close enough the static discharge would raise the hair on his body. It sent tingles of electricity racing across his skin. Once it met the delicate circuits of his bionic hand, it sent it spasming at the worst possible times.

He tried to compensate with his left, but it wasn't enough, as an extra strong gust hit the flat side of the shuttle while another lighting strike flashed right in front of them. The wind knocked the controls out of his hands as the electrical discharge shorted out his right. Scrabbling to get control of the ship as it started to plunge out of the sky, Luke cursed in every language he knew, and twice in Huttese for good measure, at the useless lump which was now attached to him even as his stomach made a concerted effort to exit via his mouth.

He yanked on the controls, drawing on the Force as he pulled on the stick, to help him get control. The blowing ash and blinding lighting were disrupting his scopes as he reached even deeper into the well of life that made up the Force. It came at his call, rushing into him, filling him with its light, the suffering overwhelmed by the power of life. It was distant and muted now as the Force augmented his strength, allowing him to pull the controls one-handed and level out the ship.

As soon as they regained control, the shuttle burst through the final cloud layer and Luke got a grim look at what was left of Yavin IV's surface.

Through the red-tinted darkness created by the cloud cover and with the aid of the flashing lightning, he could see the landscape. The fires had long ceased burning, leaving the land bare of all the beautiful green vegetation which had captivated him like a kid at his first Harvest Festival. He remembered turning his head this way and that, drawing back in surprise when he touched a fern, only to find it dripping wet as it curled in on itself.

While the sight before him now awed him, it was far from inspiring. At some point the water would have evaporated off the surface, after the impact that sent a shock wave obliterating anything in its path and sending dust and debris into the air, heating the moon and blocking out the sun. It had since rained back down as grey lakes dotting the broken landscape, looking more like giant mud pits then the effervescent blue pools from before.

Luke angled towards one of the larger lakes, more a small sea, no doubt created by the impact crater the wreckage had made. The water churned as grey-capped waves crested and peaked, only to be blown over by the same winds that birthed them. And there, in the mist and haze created by wind and water, the bones of the Death Star sat, jutting from its terrestrial home.

The bottom and left side of the laser disk and part of the equilateral trench rose above the choppy water like the shell of some giant crustacean only to vanish in a jagged line back into the sea. The top half was completely gone. The entire thing lay at an angle, making the trench rise twenty degrees and fall beneath the waves before reaching the halfway point.

As he approached, the structure loomed ever larger. He'd forgotten how massive the Death Star was, and to quickly be dwarfed by it now was humbling. Now he knew what had been at stake that day. Fresh off the farm and having an adventure greater than any he and Biggs could have dreamed up lying on top of the farmhouse dome, gazing up at the stars, he hadn't fully grasped it all.

He lost Biggs that day, and nearly lost his own life if it were not for Han.

Han.

The man had been an enigma to Luke. In some ways, still was. For Luke, joining the Rebellion and fighting the Empire was the only choice. But Han saw the galaxy differently and Luke was still trying to figure him out three years later. Like how the cynical smuggler always seemed to be around when Luke needed him most but routinely proclaimed his independence. This only compounded Luke's guilt over not being able to rescue Han. Ultimately, when the situation had been reversed, Han had been taken and Luke had needed rescuing.

Luke hoped he and his friends could find Han before he was delivered to Jabba the Hutt. Three months in and it was already a daunting prospect-even with a working hand and lightsaber. But their paths had been intertwined because of the Death Star and Luke would not abandon him.

What was left of the superstructure filled the viewport, even though the shuttle was still five klicks out. The task before him now felt as vast as the wreckage. Even if this mission had been by Luke's own request, the Alliance could still have sent _someone_ else with him. With only he and R2, there was no way they could scout the whole structure-let alone scout any other parts of the moon for a kyber crystal.

Maybe they were waiting to see if he came back this time.

_Oh, he would be back_, he thought. He would not be returning to Dagobah with his failure so fresh, to see Master Yoda's disappointed gaze and ears dropping in a disapproving frown. Luke needed a victory, or at least some kind of justification for staying away, training incomplete, against his Master's advice. He'd told Yoda that he wouldn't fail and then had proven the Jedi Master's misgivings correct. If he could return with a new lightsaber with a kyber crystal and not some synthesized reproduction, perhaps he would find some kind of forgiveness from the ancient Jedi Master.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Empire**

After circling the wreckage a few times, R2 found the most level landing area that could accommodate their bulky shuttle. Setting down, Luke only heard minor creaks and groans as the stressed metal took their weight and held. Letting out a sigh of relief, he removed his hand from the repulsor controls as the final groans abated and only the wind could be heard, even though the hull. The howls and whines it made passing through the Death Star's bones gave an eerie welcome to his already unsettled nerves.

Unstrapping his crash webbing, Luke looked at his right hand and tried to make a fist. It spasmed and nearly closed, only to fold back open to its default position. He tried to open it further and spread the fingers, but they twitched as it failed to complete the desired action. He would need it to be fully operational if he was going to go out there, but wasn't sure if he had all the necessary tools on board to make it so. In his haste to start the mission, Luke had nearly forgotten the bag of tools and emergency parts before R2 had rolled up to him with it clutched in his pincer arm.

Now he was glad of the little droid's foresight and went to retrieve it from his pack. "Come on R2. I think I'm going to need your help with this," he said once he had the tools laid out in the shuttle's common area. It currently contained a crate in the area normally used for transporting passengers. The bunks along the hull were all empty save for Luke's own, and only served to reinforce his sense of isolation which would no doubt be compounded once he entered the wreckage.

Pushing it from his mind for now, he turned over his hand to open the wrist access panel. He suppressed a shiver at having to look _into _his wrist and seeing only wires and circuits. A reminder for the rest of his life of his own hubris.

Reaching for one of the tools to probe the depths beneath the surface wires and hydraulics, R2 rolled up and extended one of his smallest interface attachments. Recently installed, it would allow him to be able to connect with the prosthesis and run a diagnostic without the need for a medlab.

"Good idea," Luke said, as he extended his forearm so R2 could connect to the micro interface. While R2 worked, Luke pulled his datapad from his jacket pocket to read the results. They weren't good.

According to R2, the delicate circuitry had overloaded but should be able to be rebooted. But the hydraulic system was singed and had developed a leak. They could top it off with the fluid they had on hand but it too would eventually run out, and he would be left with little more than a hand-shaped brick.

"How long do you think it will last R2?" he asked.

_All functions will cease in approximately twenty-four hours depending on how much the prosthesis is used_, came R2's reply via the datapad.

_A little over one galactic standard day. It should only take one day to search something that, even in pieces, was larger than the entire Rebel Fleet. No problem, _Luke thought with grim sarcasm.

Once R2 had rebooted the prosthesis's internal memory and they had added the necessary amount of fluid to the hydraulics, Luke breathed a sigh of relief. The hand once again opened and closed at his command. "Thanks, R2."

Next, he turned his attention to the crate he'd been using as a work table.

Inside was a hazardous environment suit. More durable than a vac suit, which only needed to protect the wearer from the cold and ambient radiation of space. This suit was double the thickness and could withstand intense heat and cold, as well as highly corrosive materials for a few hours before needing to be decontaminated. The helmet had an ultra-dense version of transparent durasteel. Not what was usually used in spacefaring vessels or even military ships. That was standard transparasteel.

Transdurasteel was even more durable. It was said only a direct hit from a turbolaser at point-blank range would even begin to damage it. But it was incredibly expensive to make and thus only made in small batches for specialized equipment, like his envirosuit.

Once on, Luke felt like he was moving in Cardinian pudding as his movements were slowed by the weight and cumbersomeness of the suit. He'd only managed to get it on with some help from R2 and a lot of help from the Force.

Once the helmet was on, he finished the systems check between himself and the ship, which would allow R2 to monitor his life signs, Luke entered the airlock. He had thought himself prepared once the air cycle was complete and the outer doors released. But the gale-force winds filled with rock, sand, and metal debris blasted him in the face before the hull doors even finished opening. Instinctively he put his right forearm up to protect his face and braced his feet against the pounding winds. Admonishing himself, he put his arm down; the transdurasteel faceplate was more than adequate to handle the flying rubble. Luke looked around.

The only landing site they could find had been fully exposed to the elements, with only a prayer it would have access to whatever was left of the Death Star's interior structure. Located inside the superstructure behind the horizon disk of the auxiliary laser, it would give him access to the corridors surrounding one of the focusing chambers which fed into the primary laser.

Bracing himself, Luke leaned into the wind and headed for what looked like a passable corridor. He only made it a few meters when a large piece of wreckage the size of his head flew at him and only a warning flash from the Force sent him sprawling against the deck. To avoid another potential disaster, he tentatively reached out with his senses, fully expecting the Force to still be filled with disquieting anguish now that he was at its source. But all he felt was expectation and watchful readiness. Ready for what, Luke had no idea, but at least it was an improvement over the torment from before.

Gathering the Force to himself, he thought to 'push' the debris flying at him, but after a painful hit to his thigh, Luke rethought his strategy. Instead of trying to clear a path ahead, he used the Force to create a kind of bubble surrounding him. Anything impacting the bubble would be redirected away before harming him. Thus, he was able to make the last few meters to the shelter of the corridor.

The corridor was actually from a few floors above, squashed down upon the lower ones when the space station impacted. It was uneven and blacker than a krayt dragon's den beyond the few meters the meager light from the sky could penetrate, but looked mostly clear of obstacles.

Luke commed the shuttle. "I'm about to enter R2, make sure to keep the engines warm just in case I need a quick extraction." And left the line open in case of an emergency.

An affirmative beep sounded in his speakers as he carefully picked his way inside.

After two paces, the weak red glow from Yavin IV's sun and parent faded. After five paces, Luke saw nothing but total darkness ahead of him. By twelve paces, he had both his glowrod and helmet lights on at full illumination and could still only vaguely make out shapes that were not in the full beam of the lights.

Luke had never been somewhere so dark. Even after setting his glowrod to its widest possible beam setting, he still needed to shine it directly in his path to avoid tripping, or worse, crashing into anything.

Obstacles lay strewn across the passage in varying states of destruction. Some items, like the console he was forced to climb over only a dozen meters into his trek, looked like they were merely placed in his path to inconvenience him. Other than a few scratches and a broken interface, the machinery looked as if they just needed to be turned on.

Other items were so mangled as to be completely unrecognizable. Huge bizarre shapes of twisted metal suddenly appeared before him. Looming over him like razor-sharp teeth, waiting for him to make a wrong move. His mind raced with every ghost story his friends back on Tatooine would tell in an effort to scare each other. Tales of the undead, roaming the wastes perfectly preserved by wind and sand. Or the bones of krayt dragons animated through the dark magic of Tusken Raiders.

Luke shook his head and cleared his mind. Children's stories. Nothing more. He was a long way from Tatooine and had seen enough death and evil deeds that the true stories now chilled him far more than the made-up ones. But that didn't stop him from trying to shine his light into every deep dark space he saw.

Then there was the cabling. It hung everywhere like creeping vines and would sway to a rhythm of their own from a wind Luke could not feel. They also covered the floor, along with anything else that had landed there after the wreckage impacted. If he wasn't tripping over it, the long strings dangling from overhead threatened to ensnare him at any moment. Worse than the vines of Dagobah that seemed to grow up overnight and would require him to either cut, jump, or slither his way beneath them.

It took less than a kilometer for Luke to desperately wish he had his lightsaber. He _could _move some objects from his path with the Force or shift large tangles of cords out if his way. But he still fantasized about the glowing blade sweeping through the cables trying to grab him or cutting a wall plate that blocked his path-forcing a detour-in half. He could see the blue-white blade shining its comforting light over the scene and helping to dispel deep darkness.

But in the next breath he would banish the thought. The weapon now felt tainted. Even the memory of the awe he had once had at holding something that had belonged to his father was awash in anger and horror. How could something that was a symbol of justice and honor been built by so corrupt a man? How could Luke ever even think of his hero again without reliving just _who _his father had become?

And perhaps most damning of all was how could he ever respect his Masters again? They _knew _and never told him. Even as he was rushing off to what might have been his death, they still kept their silence. How had Ben gotten the blade in the first place? If Anakin had been his student, and Anakin was now Darth Vader, just what was Ben's true role in all of this?

But it all came down to would he have done anything differently if he had known the truth? Maybe, possibly. Now he would never know.

After he tripped on a hidden mouse droid beneath the detritus, startling him badly when it weakly squeaked. Luke pushed all those thoughts to the far reaches of his mind and continued on, cursing the fact that he didn't have at least a laser cutter while secretly wishing for a lightsaber.

* * *

Luke first thought the clunking and metal falling was a result of the wind ripping loose pieces of the wreckage apart. He had been hearing it off and on for the past hour. Between the muted sounds of the wind whistling over jagged metal fragments coming through his helmet speakers and his own harsh breathing, amplified within the confines of his helmet, it was an easy mistake to make. Until the Force shrieked with warning and the red glow from the eye of an Imperial probe droid appeared at the end of the hall, casting the surrounding area in red light.

Luke ducked behind the cover of a console that had dropped through the floor from the room above. His heart beat frantically as he struggled to control his racing thoughts. The glow had reminded him of Vader's red lightsaber. It was irrational to think that Vader could be here, but his heart still pounded in his chest. His breath was fast and shallow as he struggled to turn off the lights from his helmet and glowrod. Fingers already clumsy in the suit were even more so as they twitched on the keypad on the left arm.

Once off, he closed his eyes and concentrated on controlling his breathing. Falling back on his meditation training, Luke slowed his breath, let go of his irrational fear. He could hear R2's frantic peeps, coming from his earpiece. No doubt the astromech monitored Luke's spike in heart rate from the shuttle. But Luke had no time to alleviate R2's worry. When he felt his heartbeat no longer trying to jump out of his chest, he carefully peeked over the fallen console to see if the probe droid had noticed him.

It seemed to be flying in some kind of search pattern, only discernible by the lights from its optical sensors moving back and forth down the hall, gliding away from him. Every so often it would pick something up and bring it to its optical eye. Not finding what it was looking for, it would then toss it in the direction it had already searched.

As he watched trying to figure out what it was looking for, Luke removed his blaster rifle from its shoulder sling. It was specially modified to work with the suit as it had no trigger guard.

He sighted along the barrel and continued to watch when another warming screamed through the Force!

He saw a flash of a glowing red eye and pinchers reaching, darkness, and desperation flashed through his mind. _Do not let it take us!_ it seemed to say in thought and emotion rather than words as the probe droid brought another object close to its eye. Whatever it was flashed red as it refracted the eye's light around the corridor before disappearing into some kind of collection bin within the droid.

_NO!_ Something through the Force screamed a denial. _Help!_

Luke didn't even stop to think, pulling on the Force to make sure his aim was true, he fired the blaster rifle at the probe droid. It struck but didn't do enough damage before the droid turned and fired back. It kept up a steady stream of crimson laser fire, pinning Luke behind his cover. He'd hoped this droid would self-destruct like the one Han and Chewie had shot at on Hoth. But this one seemed determined to complete its mission. Whatever that was.

There were only two options as far as Luke could see. Retreat and see if he could lose the droid amongst the wreckage or use the Force to fling a piece of wreckage, hopefully with enough momentum to take out the droid. As soon as the thought entered his mind, he knew he needed to go with the latter option. It felt right.

He'd been relying on the Force so much to just make it to this point that it was second nature to him now to reach out and let it fill him up. Its warmth and serenity outweighed the confusing emotions he was feeling in a more localized way. Channeling that energy, he reached out his hands and gripped the console he was hiding behind with the Force as he'd done countless times. Floating it before him he _pushed_ with all his will and sent the hunk of metal flying straight at the droid.

It tried to adjust its aim to fire on the incoming missile but too late. The console impacted the droid with a deafening clunk that Luke felt more than heard through the vibrations in his feet. He fell to his knees at the impact. Not from being knocked down, but from the shriek of pain in his mind before stillness replaced it.

Luke looked warily along the hall. Droids weren't _alive_ in the Force. Despite R2's personality and sentient tendencies, Luke could not feel him as anything other than a bit of metal and wire. Not like he could feel Leia or Han, or any other living creature. So why had he felt pain when the probe droid was destroyed?

He desperately wanted to go and investigate its remains but wasn't sure if it was the only one or if it managed to send a signal to its brethren or its masters in the Empire. He sent his senses to the end of the hall one last time, and feeling nothing more than twisted metal, began trying to find a new direction in which to go.

**The Search**

Hours passed as Luke continued on with his search.

In the black maw of the Death Star's twisted corridors, it felt like days. When Luke looked at his chrono, only three hours had gone by since his confrontation with the probe droid, and eight total since he landed. But the sameness of everything he saw within the confines of his glowrod made him lose track of his surroundings.

Many times he had felt like turning back. But there was little else he could do but press on. He had yet to figure out why the Empire was here, if not to salvage the abundance of resources, which, judging by the probe droids' actions, did not appear to be the case. He also still needed to find the source of the torment in the Force that now was like a constant, throbbing headache. Insistent he continue on, for no other reason than to put to rest the misery emanating from every direction.

Luke knew he would regret it for the rest of his life if he let it continue. The fact that he was already responsible for thousands of deaths from the space station's destruction, combined with the annihilation of Yavin IV's ecosystem, meant if he could help in this, he would.

Add in his recent failures at Bespin, and Luke desperately needed something to strive for. Especially since the search for Han was largely out of his hands. It was down to Chewie and Lando to find him, while Luke walked the graveyard of the Death Star.

And it was a graveyard, despite the lack of bodies, for which Luke was eternally grateful. He wouldn't be able to continue if those aboard when the station was destroyed were still here to judge him. The place was spooky enough without the accusations of the dead.

There was no light except what his glowrod produced. But every so often pinpricks of outside light would dimly shine from rents in the plating. They reminded him of stars when he had to go EVA. The feeling of isolation and helplessness while floating in the weightless abyss of space was not so different from what he was experiencing now.

So, when a bright flash of light appeared in the corner of his eye from the depths of the pitch-black corridor in a cross-direction from where he'd shone the glowrod, Luke jerked around. Thinking he had stumbled on another probe droid, he swung the glowrod in a wide arc. There was nothing but rubble-strewn corridor. When he stretched out with the Force, he could feel nothing but the disturbing sense he was not alone.

Long minutes passed but he did not see the flash again; he continued on. The Force seemed to sigh in disappointment.

* * *

Luke encountered another probe droid in an intact T junction, but instead of confronting it this time, he only watched from a hiding spot under fallen plating. Just like the last one, it traveled back and forth along the corridor, searching for something. It bypassed exposed cables and circuit boards with their valuable and highly conductive gold parts. It paid little attention to the endless supply of durasteel, transparasteel, and fiberplast. It didn't even seem to care about recovering memory chips from the various consoles. The droid kept up its search grid, back and forth, back and forth, not finding what it was looking for.

The despondency in the Force paused in expectant anticipation. Was the probe droid on the trail of something? Luke followed.

An hour later, after trying to keep out of sight yet still within visual range of his helmet's sensors, he gave up. The droid hadn't found anything and Luke had learned nothing new from it. Leaving it to its work, he snuck back the way he'd come and restarted his own search, a little envious of the droid that he assumed at least _knew _what it was looking for. The Force sent a flare of despondency with every step he took in the opposite direction.

* * *

After dropping down from a hole in the impassable corridor from above, another light flashed. He stopped and tried to find the source. It couldn't be random as he initially believed. He waved the glowrod once more and the light flashed again. Something was reacting to the glowrod but thus far even the broken glass panels hadn't flashed like that. They would reflect and shine, but not refract. Luke tried to track it down but the destruction in this corridor was particularly bad. Support struts had bent and cracked, some snapping altogether, and machinery and wires blocked his way or dangled, trying to ensnare him.

Not for the first time this trip Luke wished he had his lightsaber to cut through all the obstacles in his path. But then if he'd had it, he wouldn't be here looking for a kyber crystal to build a new one. It was a dewback or the egg situation.

Deciding that tracking the light wasn't worth the effort, he turned to head back in his previous direction when the sense of dejection flared through the Force. He had only felt it when he made his decision to continue on and _not _look for the light. Now indecision gnawed at him. He had a larger mission to think about but the feeling of rejection and despair from the Force made him want to completely clear the corridor to look for it.

Ultimately the need to press on outweighed the need to search for the mysterious light. Luke returned to his trek through the deteriorated space station.

* * *

The suit was getting to him.

Luke and never been claustrophobic but after twelve hours, the sound of his own breathing and the faint sounds of whistling, creaks and groans transmitting through the suit's speakers were oppressive. The difficulty in having to crawl in, around, and through the structure in the bulky suit wasn't improving his mood either.d

Maybe it was his mood, or the deceptively empty passageways, or his own lack of attention, but one moment Luke was walking along and the next he was falling through the floor. Too late, he'd responded to the Force's blare of waring as he slid down a steep slope, scrambling to find something to grab onto to stop himself. Luke _knew_ without needing to see that if he didn't stop or slow down, he would not like what he found at the bottom.

His right hand found the end of a metal bar jutting out from the wall and he jerked to a stop, wrenching his shoulder and wrist and jarring the blaster rifle and glowrod from his grip in the sudden absence of movement. They clattered down the shaft, the glowrod spinning its light around so he could see obstacles jutting from the chute's walls, waiting for him to lose his grip and slide down into their waiting destruction. In much too short a time both the light and rifle disappeared into the black abyss. Either the helmet speakers weren't powerful enough to hear them hit the bottom, or they didn't hit because no further sounds were made after the dark swallowed them up.

Luke gulped and turned his head to shine the helmet lights at his hand holding onto what looked like a catwalk railing. Without the blaster rifle, he now had two free hands. After the first probe droid encounter, he had kept it unslung and at the ready. However, the slope had to be sixty degrees or more. He tried to find purchase with his feet and get a grip with his left hand, not fully trusting his artificial right to hold. Even now he could tell the servos were loosening their grip as he tried to brace himself with his feet, reaching up to grab the railing with his left hand.

The fingers of his open hand brushed the metal bar, trying to seize it, just as his feet slipped and his artificial right hand slacked further. Luke was now slowly sliding down the railing. It would be a toss-up as to whether his hand lost its grip first or he ran out of bar before plummeting down again.

Trying to will his cursed right hand to hold on a little longer, he tried to swing himself up to once again reach with his left. His fingers were just beginning to close around the metal when his right gave out. Without enough of a hold from his left, gravity took over.

Luke had only moments before he struck something that would either tear a hole in his suit or tear a hole in him. The now instinctive feel of reaching for the Force flowed into him and he directed its currents to slow his descent.

Something banged painfully into his left side, then his foot was nearly shorn off by a razor-sharp strut poking out of the shaft, but he was slowing. Before coming to a complete stop, Luke saw some cables dangling in his path and reached out with his left hand to give it a hard tug. It seemed strong enough to support him. Before letting his connection to the Force go he put his full weight on it. The cabling held and he had no further warnings from the Force.

As he started to climb up its length, he heard R2 was tweeting up a storm. During his fall and attempts to save himself, he hadn't even heard the little droid through the pounding of blood in his ears.

"R2, R2!" Luke tried to speak over the droid's furious beeps. When he had R2's attention, he made sure to fill him in on what happened. The droid was not happy with the situation, but there was little he could do but whine morosely for Luke to be more careful.

When he was back on reasonably steady and level footing again, he concentrated on his right hand. Trying to close it into a fist and open again as he'd done before in the shuttle. This time it would close, but by its own will would open again before Luke signaled it. _Just what I need,_ Luke thought. Either the hydraulic fluid was leaking faster than R2 thought or it had been damaged further in the fall. He experimented with it a little further but always with the same result. The hand would perform the desired task but then revert to its default state before given another command.

Trying to find a bright side to his situation, he wondered if the hand was too damaged to repair and the med droids would give him a new one. With that hopeful thought in the absence of a glowrod or rifle, Luke continued on.

After the almost plummeting to his death incident, Luke made sure to comm R2 at random intervals and make sure the droid had a fix on his position, or just to check that the ship was alright. It was now thirteen hours into his trek and R2 and the Force was Luke's only hope of making it back to the shuttle before his air supply ran out. With his now unreliable right hand, time was now counted by the breaths he took. His air was only good for another four hours. Supposedly the suit's air tanks were capable of supplementing his air from the outside atmosphere if it found enough for the user to breath.

But Yavin IV's oxygen had been burned away when the impact's debris cloud blocked out the sun. Greenhouse gases had taken over, heating the moon and setting fire to whatever had survived the impact and shock wave.

The acid rain was already corroding everything it touched when the moon had cooled enough for water to fall back to the surface. Luke could see it dripping into puddles and larger pools. He tried his best to avoid the water, even with the suit's ability to withstand toxic substances. But at one point a cavern-complete with lake-had appeared out of the gloom. It was a large open area created by many floors compacting together while the topmost floor was still largely intact.

Intact being a relative term. It held together enough to keep many of the structural supports upright but most of the plating was missing, allowing the acid rain to fall in and form the lake. Having no idea how deep it was or what lay at the bottom, nor wanting to try and see how buoyant his suit was, Luke was forced to backtrack until the Force signaled the avenue he passed earlier would work.

**The Revelation**

Hours of careful walking, climbing, and in the odd case, sliding, passed when Luke reached one of the largest intact spaces he'd come across thus far. It had taken all of his concentration to get here and more reliance on the Force then he thought he would ever need. And not only for balance and the warning of danger. The feeling of expectant vigilance only seemed to increase as the Force told him which way to go. He had long since given up on any internal sense of direction, as corridors and junctions proved to be either completely collapsed or impassable with the amount of wreckage strewn in his path. But the Force knew which way he needed to go; thus, he gave himself over to its guidance.

He hadn't encountered any more probe droids since the second one, and R2 assured him he wasn't picking up any transmissions other than the one that connected Luke to the shuttle. But he still felt his time on Yavin IV was limited to more than just his air. He needed to figure out what the probe droid he'd destroyed and the second one he'd followed were searching for.

In this room, Luke felt like he had his answer.

It was easily large enough in diameter to hold the Millennium Falcon, when it had been whole. Now one side was crushed nearly flat and the opposite side had either gaping holes where the wall plating had come off, or the support structure stabbed through what plating remained. It reminded Luke of the ice cave he'd awoken in before becoming dinner to the wampa back on Hoth. Only here the stalactite and stalagmites were not made of ice but razor-sharp metal.

At first, his helmet lamps shone only to the first few meters of the room and barely illuminated its heart, but what he could see was a giant catacomb, having held something small within each cell. The screaming in his head combined with the light refracting everywhere it touched told Luke what had been in each of those cells.

Crystals. Hundreds, if not thousands of them.

They sparkled from every surface, bending the illumination from the lamps to every corner of the room, doing little to dispel the blackness that came from both the lack of light and from the weight which was still pressing on him in the Force. But they sparkled like thousands of stars dancing across the sky as he moved his head back and forth. Luke had found one of the Death Star's tributary focusing chambers.

Then the truth of what he was seeing pounded into him like a Wookiee tackle. These weren't just any crystals. They were _kyber crystals_. Their discordant song made him stumble and want to cover his ears even though it rang through his mind and not his ears. Master Yoda had never told him that kyber crystals were 'alive'. Luke had thought his master was being metaphorical when he said a Jedi bonded with his crystal. But now he knew that to be literal.

He tried moving further into the room but every step felt like sacrilege as he could not avoid stepping on the crystals littered across the ground. These had been revered objects to the Jedi of old. Completing the right of passage from mere student, with the completion of their lightsaber to being taken on as an apprentice. That, combined with the forlorn atmosphere emanating from the crystals gave Luke no wish to desecrate them further.

Thinking that he could move the crystals in his path with the Force, he reached out to that ever-present current of life.

What Luke felt when he touched it sent him to his knees. Thought and emotion flooded his senses.

_Pain, despair, hope, longing, excitement._ They all rushed into him in an instant, jumbled together like so much grit in a sandstorm. Abrasive to his mind and more powerful then he'd felt thus far. Luke tried to wrest control over the emotions when the images flashed in his mind's eye.

_Workers digging out them out of their ancient resting places, not yet their time. Machines cutting and shaping them with no thought to their needs. Being placed in a cell without the comforting hand of the Force to direct them. Immense energy forced through their altered bodies that were not meant to handle such power. One last power surge as another disrupted the even current of energy, freeing them and dooming them in the same instant. The backlash of energy cracking their structure and sending them into endless torment._

Luke didn't understand everything but the last made his heart hurt. _Could he do nothing right? Was there no right decision he could have made that day? Was he doomed to failure as a Jedi if he could not even save one of its most important elements?_

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the crystals. "It's my fault. I'm sorry." The last was said through a sob as the whirlwind in his mind slowed.

_Help, _the crystals whispered through the Force.

_How?_ He thought back. He would do anything to try and make it better, if not right.

_Save us._


	3. Chapter 3

_**Help, the crystals whispered through the Force.**_

_**How? He thought back. He would do anything to try and make it better, if not right.**_

_**Save us.**_

And now... the conclusion

* * *

**The Savior**

Yes, he would save them.

Luke opened himself to the Force more fully then he had ever before and knew what he needed to do. Extending his arms, letting his mind connect with those crystals closest to him and through them, he created an unbroken chain, to all the kyber crystals on the moon. Their pain rushed into him, filling him with determination to rescue them.

Drawing on their pain, Luke used it as a fulcrum to pull them all to him. In his mind's eye, he could see the kyber crystals floating around him in a maelstrom of multi-colored light. Dancing in their exuberance to be free of the torture chambers of the Death Star's focusing chambers. By ones and twos, by groups of dozens and hundreds, they came. Their suffering turning to joy as the Force flowed into every corner of the wreckage, guided by the Force and Luke's will.

There was no wind in his envirosuit but Luke's sweat-matted hair ruffled as the crystals surrounded him, swirling in intricate patterns, like the huge swarms of sandflies that would fly over the Great Salt Flats during droughts. They would move as if they were one creature and not thousands.

Time stood still for Luke as each crystal found its way to him, so caught up in the currents of the Force he didn't register R2's warning until it was almost too late. The droid's shrill whistles were just breaking through his concentration, warring of a large concentration of probe droids converging on his position, when the crystals cried out in a panicked wail that the Gathering was not yet complete.

There had never been such a concentration of kyber crystals in such an enclosed space before.

Yoda said the caves of Ilum and the catacombs of Jedha went on for miles and it could be days before a crystal was found. Each a self-contained presence within the Force. But here on this instrument of death and destruction, the kyber crystals had formed a kind of collected consciousness in their shared agony.

It was not Luke's will, but that of the crystals which formed a wall between Luke and the Empire's probe droids when they arrived. It was the crystals that took the shots the droids fired at their savior. The red glare of the droid's blaster shots refracted through the chamber and always safely around Luke, either to dissipate or be redirected back at the droids themselves, not unlike a Jedi wielding a lightsaber. Only this saber had a resolve of its own.

Luke was only peripherally aware of what the kyber crystals were doing as his mind kept up the search for more, drawing them to him. He became distantly aware the crystals had eliminated the probe droids by using their own blaster fire against them. He and the crystals felt the death of those crystals the droids had managed to find and store in their collection bins, but agreed that their deaths were a small price to pay for the rest to survive.

By now, if Luke had dared open his eyes, he would see not the wreckage of the Death Star but thousands, hundreds of thousands, of kyber crystals, swirling en masse around him. More than there had ever been Jedi to attune to them. For millions of years they had waited for one soul connected to the Force to find them, only to be ripped from their resting places, bent and broken into a planet killer.

Luke could feel that nearly all the crystals were gathered in one place. Only a few remained when a shriek from his speakers signaled R2's panic once again. Keeping his connection to the Force, and by extension the crystals, he opened his eyes to read R2's message on his heads up display.

It was hard to make out the words because the room was so bright. _But that's not right_, Luke thought. Everything had been dark until this point so why was it so bright?

Then it hit him. His headlamps. Shining into a whirling storm of kyber crystals, all reflecting its light a million times over. As a result, the room shone with bright white light and Luke had to concentrate to read R2's message.

_Transmission from an Imperial Scout ship detected. Suggest immediate evacuation. Scans indicate it will be at this location in 10 minutes._

"We can't… leave…yet," Luke panted. All his energy was directed into maintaining his hold on the crystals that he had little breath left for talking. "I… need to… save…them."

He was so close. Only a few remained to be brought into the collective.

"Start… the engines…R2," Luke struggled to say. "Meet me at… my coordinates." He didn't know why he said that. He was behind tons of metal and wire. But it felt right.

He heard the droid's acknowledging beep as if from a great distance as he sank back into the currents of the Force. The kyber crystals were singing again. There was no other word for it. The music they now created awed Luke. He had never 'heard' anything so beautiful. It was is if his very soul was resonating to their song.

He lost himself in it. The crystals, the Force, and his mind were one and in the infinite space of thought and energy, Luke saw.

He saw not Darth Vader, but Anakin Skywalker.

A man lost to his hate and anger. A man who could have killed him as he killed Obi-Wan, but didn't.

At the time Luke had been too filled with his own hate to pay attention, but now he felt it. The hope of a father finding his lost son. It was there buried deep down. But Luke felt it. Luke _knew it._

His desire to examine the revelation further was cut off by another of R2's warning cries. The scout ship was here and with it, all the remaining probe droids on the Death Star.

**The Destruction**

The chamber shook as the first impacts from the Imperial's turbolasers struck somewhere above, while the droids coordinated with their masters and opened fired as one. But they weren't firing at Luke and the crystals, but at a point above them. With the Imperial's combined firepower, they were trying to blast their way through.

The shaking was growing worse as Luke lost his footing and almost hit the floor. He stopped short of falling over completely as a wall of kyber crystals supported his back and righted him. So immersed in the Force, Luke wasn't sure if it was his will, the crystals, or the Force, or some combination of all three, that helped him back to his feet.

They needed a plan, and fast. The turbolaser shots were coming faster as they melted unshielded metal not meant to be in atmosphere, let alone one as corrosive as Yavin IV's had become.

Nothing could be done about the scout ship for now, but they could redirect the blasters from the droids.

As soon as the thought formed, a wave of crystals moved to intercept the droids' line of fire. Luke had expected the crystals to redirect the shots back at the droids. But he watched in fascinated horror as the crystals intercepted the fire. Not to eliminate the droids, but to focus it back and forth between them, amplifying the deadly red light as it passed from crystal to crystal and back.

The droids didn't know how else to respond other than to keep firing, trying to get their shots to meet up with their masters from above. But all it did was add to the deadly glow that now encircled Luke.

The discharge coming off the ricocheting blaster fire was affecting the electronics of his suit as his display flickered and it became hard to breathe. His air expanded from the heat coming off the barrage. It could even be felt through the suit's protective layers.

Before Luke could wonder if he would be cooked alive by the intense and increasing inferno, the room shook a final time. The Imperial scout ship's fire broke through.

But as with the droids' blaster fire, the now crimson whirlwind of kyber crystals took in the ship's turbolasers, adding it to the already impressive maelstrom of energy.

The heat was so great Luke could feel the sweat streaming down his face, stinging his eyes, and he blinked rapidly to try and clear them. With the gloves and helmet, he wasn't able to do anything about it. He had no doubt that the suit was the only reason he was still alive. The air inside it was stifling but still the kyber crystals took in more and more, until Luke thought it would never end.

The swirling mass of red spun faster and faster. The more power it took in and refracted, the faster it spun. Luke gradually became aware of small 'pops' in the Force. Some crystals that had been too damaged by the Death Star's death throes were now unable to contain uncontrolled energy. He now understood the cost this was having on the crystals. It was mass death on a microcosmic scale, yet no less heart-wrenching as they gave their lives, such as they were, in Luke's defense.

Luke tried to wrest control back, to save as many of the crystals as he could, but the kyber crystals had taken over with a collective will of their own. They had learned much from their time as the Death Star's heart, and now they would put that knowledge to better use.

_NO!_ Luke thought at them. _My one life is not worth all of yours!_

_Your one life is worth all._

He didn't understand. How could they believe that his life was worth what would be their own destruction?!

_Only through sacrifice can we know peace. Only through failure can you learn, _the Force whispered across his mind.

It was in that instant Luke understood what they planned. It was too late to stop them.

As one, the majority of crystals aligned themselves to point at the Imperial scout ship, while the rest angled toward the probe droids.

With a deafening bang that left Luke flat on his back, ears ringing even through the protective envirosuit, the kyber crystals released the amplified energy.

At its base, Luke could see only a red column of collective laser fire shoot up, catching the Imperial ship dead on. It didn't so much explode as disintegrate instantly. Luke shut his eyes as the light from the crystals and the destruction of the ship flared white-hot.

But it didn't stop there. The crystals at the top of the column began exploding, one after another.

_NOOO,_ Luke shouted in his mind. _I've come to save you!_

But he could do nothing. It was in that moment he understood their pain came not from being abandoned on Yavin IV, or even at having been bent to the determination of the Death Star's creators, but of the fact that they were damaged, both structurally and in spirit.

As each crystal shattered, Luke could feel its release back into the flow of the Force. A peaceful calm descended over them, and as they shattered by the hundreds, the Force began to sing again.

Harmony.

Balance.

Peace.

**The End**

Luke opened his eyes. Through the gaping hole created by first the Imperial scout ship, then by the kyber crystals, he could see the rolling mass of clouds that now made up Yavin IV's sky. Rain hit his faceplate, sending steam vapor rising as it struck the superheated exterior of his suit.

The crystals were gone. Scattering to the far reaches of the moon as the winds carried away their remains.

As Luke sat up, a flash of lightning illuminated the surrounding area, and for an instant, the landscape-the very air-lit up in an incandescent rainbow of sparkling light. From the water to the land, everything glittered. A galaxy's worth of stars as kyber crystal grains of sand. The Force itself still sang their song of forgiveness and balance.

For the space of one heartbeat, Luke beheld something more beautiful than he had ever seen or ever would see again.

He blinked and the sight was gone as red-tinged grey once more ruled. But he would carry the memory with him and along with it the wondrous feeling of peace in the Force.

Getting up, Luke wondered how he was going to make his way back to the shuttle when something pinged against his helmet and flashed before his visor. Reflexively, he caught it in his left hand. Opening his fingers slowly, back to the wind, he revealed an intact kyber crystal. The Force flashed in his mind and he caught a vision of himself, brilliant green blade held aloft in darkness before it was gone. This was _his_ crystal. He knew it instinctively, just as he knew Vader was telling him the truth. That he _was _his father.

Tentatively, Luke reached out with the Force. The crystal felt warm and comforting. Like an old friend returned from a long trip. The oppressive weight and pain were gone and in its place, he felt… peace. Balance.

The crystal in his hand sang to him. He saw, that though the other crystals were destroyed into nothing more than dust, the sand created through their destruction would sink to the bottom of the seas, deep into all the cracks, filling the scars of the moon with hope that in a thousand years, ten thousand years, Yavin IV would become a beacon to new Jedi on quests of their own to find a kyber crystal. A crystal that resonated with them and only them. With their destruction, the song seemed to say, new crystals would form, deep in the moon's mantle, waiting for when they would be needed.

But it saddened him no one would ever know of their sacrifice.

Even now Luke could feel the crystal in his hand merge with his own mind within the Force, becoming an extension of him, apart yet outside of himself. Feeling a buzzing in his mind, he sensed intuitively, that the crystal would remember. All the new crystals reborn from this sacrifice would honor what happened this day and pass on the legacy to every new Jedi that came in search of them.

Whatever else Luke would do with his life, if it ended tomorrow or eighty years from now, he could be content knowing new kyber crystals would carry this memory on through the Force.

With a renewed sense of faith, Luke looked up to the sky again. Closing his eyes, he made a silent promise. The Jedi would _return_. To reclaim their heritage and ensure the crystals' sacrifice wasn't in vain.

He heard the roar of engines and opened his eyes to see his shuttle lowering itself into the now empty space. Luke smiled sadly.

"Glad you're here R2. It's time to go home."

* * *

Thanks again to everyone involved in the birth of this story! I couldn't have done it without you!

And a HUGE, HUGE thank you to Raide on Tumblr - .com and Instagram - raidesart for the BAMF picture of Luke and the kyber crystals! It is SO beautiful! It's so lovely I wish I hadn't put Luke in an envirosuite! I WISH allowed links but if you go to .com and search _Apocalypse Yavin _you'll find it on my blog as well as a larger version of the cover art I made.


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